The objective of specifying the 3GPP Generic User Profile (GUP) is to provide a means to enable harmonized usage of the user-related information originating from different entities.
The 3GPP Generic User Profile is the collection of User-related data which affects the way in which an individual user experiences services where a community of entities shares these data. The 3GPP Generic User Profile can be stored in the home network environment and/or Value Added Service Provider equipment.
Within a GUP scenario the following roles exist: 3GPP GUP Servers are deployed by Operators, end-users have one GUP Server associated to its profile and Data Consumers (i.e., applications) needing to handle/consume end-user's profiles contact 3GPP GUP Servers.
3GPP GUP defines two interfaces, namely Rg and Rp, where the first one is the one to be used by Data Consumers (i.e., applications) while the second one is an intra-operator interface which is to be used by GUP Servers towards Data Repositories. Both interfaces are based on Liberty Alliance DST protocol; see “Liberty ID-WSF Data Services Template Specification”, Liberty Alliance Project, http://www.projectliberty.org/spes/liberty-idwsf-dst-v2.0.pdf.
Information to be handled by 3GPP GUP Servers (logical data model) is currently not specified except a minor portion with regards to IMS data within HSS node.
Potentially any end-user's data (static and dynamic) which might be of interest to data consumers could be decided, by operators, to be made available through 3GPP GUP Servers.
The 3GPP Generic User Profile (GUP) is further described in 3GPP TS 22.240 v6.5.0, “Service requirement for the 3GPP Generic User Profile (GUP); Stage 1 (Release 6)” http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/22240.htm.
The GUP will help overcome some of the challenges associated with the introduction of sophisticated user terminals with widely varying capabilities, hybrid combinations of mobile network domains, the advent of downloadable applications, and the desire of users to customize potentially complex services to individual preferences and needs.
A GUP component instance is a physical representation of a GUP component. Component instances may be located in the Home Network, in the Value Added Service Provider Environment and/or the User Equipment.
The 3GPP Generic User Profile allows intra-network usage (i.e. data exchange between applications within a mobile operator's network) and inter-network usage (between mobile operator's network and value added service providers. Mobile Virtual Operators MVNO:s and visited networks are treated as value added service providers in terms of GUP data exchanges with mobile operator's network.
For each user one User Profile exists, which may consist of several ‘components’. These components may be distributed in the home network and value added service provider's environment. The 3GPP GUP data are distributed by nature and consequently stored in home network and Value Added Service Provider Equipment.
A problem is that the 3GPP GUP data is potentially distributed in those cases where an end-user is a subscriber to or roaming in a different network. In this situation a GUP Server can only provide static and dynamic data which is stored in its own network.
In a roaming scenario data consumers (applications) located in the Home-PLMN (HPLMN hereafter), and willing to consume dynamic data of the roamed end-user, will always contact the GUP server that holds the data for that end-user. In this scenario it happens that some portions of the end-user profile can only be retrieved by contacting the Visited-PLMN (VPLMN hereafter). In such case Data consumers (applications) might query the GUP Server in the HPLMN (i.e., the one which the application has established a commercial relationship with) for this data but the GUP Server is not allowed to query data repositories (e.g. VLR or SGSN in VPLMN) in a different network (Rp, an intra-operator interface requires high levels of trust).
Thus, there exist no solutions on how to access user profile related data residing in another domain than the GUP Server of the data consumer, in a secure and efficient way.